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The next stage of my Sussex Day walk saw me head north-east, more or less turning my back on the South Downs. I was heading towards Sayers Common, and for this part of the route the quickest and easiest way (admittedly probably not the safest way) to get there was by following the road.

For the most part these were country roads, firstly Blackstone Lane, which did have more cars than I was expecting for a country road, but it had wide verges and the road was straight, so I could be seen (and avoided) quite easily.

The next section was a bit more hazardous, but thankfully quite short. Blackstone Lane joined the main road (the B2116) and for about a quarter of a mile I was walking alongside this quite busy road with all manor of vehicle rushing past. Fortunately there was quite a good verge and I was able to step off the road when traffic came hurtling towards me.

The section of main road lead me east to a place called High Cross. Which in my mind is really only a road junction with a few houses clustered round. Several roads met here, including Reed’s Lane the road I was to take. I was glad to get away from the main road and back out onto the relatively quiet country road.

Reed’s Lane heads north-east, more or less in a straight line to Sayers Common about a mile and a half away. Although the road is not even a B-road some drivers seemed to be treating it like a motorway. I was again glad to reach Sayers Common, where there were pavements along the side of the road and speed limits.

I guess Sayers Common’s main claim to fame is that it used to be on the main London to Brighton road until the modern A23 by-passed it to the east. It’s genealogical claim to fame is that this is where my 2x great grandparents Ebenezer and Annie TROWER moved to with their two children around 1892 (they went on to have another four children).

The family had been living in Henfield before they moved to Sayers Common, and although I don’t know how they actually made the move or which route they took, my walk today was in a small way a commemoration of that trip.